Claim after Soviet attack dismissed

Press, 5 August 1985, Page 6

Claim after Soviet attack dismissed

NZPA-AP Washington A judge, who said he did not have jurisdiction to hold the Soviet Union liable for shooting down Korean Airlines flight 007, has dismissed a lawsuit by relatives of the 269 people killed in the 1983 attack. Judge Aubrey Robinson, jun., also dismissed lawsuits against the Boeing Company, the plane’s manufacturer, and Litton Systems, which made the Boeing 747’s navigation system. He ruled that the two companies could not be held responsible for the deliberate destruction of the aircraft by Soviet jet fighters. The aircraft was shot down over the Sea of Japan on September 1, 1983, after it strayed into Soviet airspace while en route from Anchorage, Alaska, to Seoul. In a 17-page opinion, Judge Robinson ruled that foreign Governments could not be sued over state actions under the United States Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, 1976, and the Alien Tort Claims Act.

“Upon careful scrutiny of both statutes and all relevant doctrine, the Court is persuaded that there is no basis upon which jurisdiction can be sustained against the Soviet Union,” he said.

He rejected arguments that the two companies could be held responsible for possible equipment failure that caused the aircraft to stray into Soviet airspace.